Full wedge vs half wedge

Is a Full Wedge Better Than a Half Wedge?

This is always an interesting topic. Is it better to have a full wedge from ~100 yards or an "awkward" half wedge from ~50 yards? There are a decent number of golfers that think the full wedge is the best play.

For today's issue, I did a DEEP DIVE into the Arccos Golf database (is there any other kind of dive?). For this analysis, I wanted to compare a player to themselves.

Find players with enough half-wedge and full wedge shots and compare how they performed for each type of wedge shot (half vs full). For a player to qualify for this analysis, they needed to meet the following criteria:

• In a given calendar year they needed to have:

  • 30+ shots from 40-60 yards in the fairway ("half" wedges)

  • 30+ shots from 90-110 yards in the fairway ("full" wedges)

  • 30+ shots from 40-60 yards in the rough ("half" wedges)

• For comparisons to front hole locations the player needed to have:

  • 10+ shots from 40-60 yards in the fairway to a front hole

  • 10+ shots from 90-110 yards in the fairway to a front hole

  • Front hole locations are defined as holes that are 5 yards or less from the front edge of the green. This is calculated by drawing a straight line from the ball to the hole, and then measuring the distance from the edge of the green to the hole on that line

The Stats

Average shots to hole out (all hole locations):

• 4.2% of players had better average score with a full wedge

• 95.8% of players had better average score with a half wedge

• 0.1% of players had better average score with a full wedge by 0.25 shots or more

• 59.9% of players had better average score with a half wedge by 0.25 shots or more

Hit green % (all hole locations):

• 4.7% had a higher hit green % with full wedge

• 95.3% had a higher hit green % with half wedge

• 0.5% had a higher hit green % with full wedge by 10% or more

• 79.0% had a higher hit green % with half wedge by 10% or more

Average proximity (all hole locations):

• 2.8% had a closer average proximity with full wedge

• 97.2% had a closer average proximity with half wedge

• 0.04% had a closer average proximity with full wedge by 10 feet or more

• 74.1% had a closer average proximity with half wedge by 10 feet or more

Median proximity (all hole locations):

• 3.7% had a closer median proximity with full wedge

• 96.3% had a closer median proximity with half wedge

• 0.3% had a closer median proximity with full wedge by 10 feet or more

• 60.3% had a closer median proximity with half wedge by 10 feet or more

Up & down % (2 shots to hole out) (all hole locations):

• 14.9% had a better up & down % with full wedge

• 85.1% had a better up & down % with half wedge

• 0.6% had a better up & down % with full wedge by 10% or more

• 27.1% had a better up & down % with half wedge by 10% or more

Bogey+ % (4+ shots to hole out) (all hole locations):

• 6.2% had a better bogey+ % with full wedge

• 93.8% had a better bogey+ % with half wedge

• 0.8% had a better bogey+ % with full wedge by 10% or more

• 71.1% had a better bogey+ % with half wedge by 10% or more

  • ** better bogey+ % means they made fewer bogeys

50 yards in rough vs 100 yards in fairway (all hole locations):

• 6.9% had better average score with full wedge from fairway

• 93.1% had better average score with half wedge from rough

• 0.3% had better average score with full wedge by 0.25 shots or more

• 43.9% had better average score with half wedge by 0.25 shots or more

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Average shots to hole out (FRONT hole locations):

• 15.1% of players had better average score with a full wedge

• 84.9% of players had better average score with a half wedge

• 4.3% of players had better average score with a full wedge by 0.25 shots or more

• 51.7% of players had better average score with a half wedge by 0.25 shots or more

Hit green % (FRONT hole locations):

• 15.9% had a higher hit green % with full wedge

• 84.1% had a higher hit green % with half wedge

• 7.7% had a higher hit green % with full wedge by 10% or more

• 68.0% had a higher hit green % with half wedge by 10% or more

Average proximity (FRONT hole locations):

• 15.3% had a closer average proximity with full wedge

• 84.7% had a closer average proximity with half wedge

• 3.7% had a closer average proximity with full wedge by 10 feet or more

• 57.6% had a closer average proximity with half wedge by 10 feet or more

Median proximity (FRONT hole locations):

• 16.9% had a closer median proximity with full wedge

• 83.1% had a closer median proximity with half wedge

• 4.3% had a closer median proximity with full wedge by 10 feet or more

• 49.3% had a closer median proximity with half wedge by 10 feet or more

Up & down % (2 shots to hole out) (FRONT hole locations):

• 23.9% had a better up & down % with full wedge

• 76.1% had a better up & down % with half wedge

• 7.5% had a better up & down % with full wedge by 10% or more

• 28.7% had a better up & down % with half wedge by 10% or more

Bogey+ % (4+ shots to hole out) (FRONT hole locations):

• 16.9% had a better bogey+ % with full wedge

• 83.1% had a better bogey+ % with half wedge

• 9.2% had a better bogey+ % with full wedge by 10% or more

• 61.3% had a better bogey+ % with half wedge by 10% or more

  • ** better bogey+ % means they made fewer bogeys

What Does This Mean For You?

As you can see, being closer is the best play for most golfers in most situations. 95.8% of golfers had a better scoring average from 50 yards vs 100 yards. When looking at the golfers that score better from 100, many of them appear to have a case of the yips.

For most golfers, the advantage of being closer is HUGE. 59.9% have a scoring average with half wedges that is more than a quarter shot better than it is with their full wedges. If you are intentionally leaving a lot of full wedges, you are likely costing yourself shots.

From 50 yards, you will have tighter dispersion than you will from 100 (e.g., you will hit the ball into a smaller area). Sometimes you will need to pick a conservative target on a 50 yard shot (not take dead aim at the hole like you often do), but your dispersion will be smaller.Does it feel great to aim away from the hole from 50 yards? Not really. But your shots will be more clustered around the target from 50 yards than they will be from 100 yards.

This smaller dispersion will result in less greens missed, which means less over par holes, which means better overall scoring. Please note that from 50 yards front pins get a smidge harder for some players. When I look at the data for these players, I **think** there are a couple of contributing factors.

I think some are being too aggressive from 50 yards (getting "too cute" with their targets). There are also some that chunk and blade a lot more shots than what is typical for their skill level. If this is you, I encourage you to work on your low point control. That is likely a big part of your issue.

I think a big reason why people "feel" they are better from 100 yards is because scoring and proximity start to "flatten" out as you get closer to the hole. For example, here is median proximity from the fairway for a 10 index player:

• From 150 yards median prox is 42 feet closer than it is from 200 yards

• From 100 yards median prox is 16 feet closer than it is from 150 yards

• From 50 yards median prox is 11 feet closer than it is from 100 yards

Notice that it is a much bigger difference from 200 to 150 than it is from 100 to 50. The key takeaway? Get it closer!